


More Than Meets the Eye

by hollyandvice (hiasobi_writes)



Series: Holly's Round Eight H/C Bingo Card [60]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Gen, Transformation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-16 05:21:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13047336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiasobi_writes/pseuds/hollyandvice
Summary: Tucker's eyes are wide and stunned, radiating confusion and worry. Sam is already halfway across the lab moving toward him, her hands shaking as she reaches out for him. "Danny," she says breathlessly, "yourhair—"A look at the seconds after Danny transforms the first time.





	More Than Meets the Eye

The pain is bone deep, searing and intense, and Danny can't stop the scream it rips from his lips. His whole body is burning and freezing at the same time, his molecules feeling ripped to shreds as the portal activates around him. His throat closes up, the pain too much, too intense, too overpowering for him to be able to go on screaming, almost too much for him to go on drawing breath. He clings to consciousness, certain that letting go of that would be as good as signing his own death warrant, and he's not willing to give up or give in. Not yet, at least. Then, just as he thinks he's about to lose that battle with consciousness, the pain disappears.

The absence of pain is almost as shocking as the pain itself at first, leaving Danny buzzing with the renewed sensation in his extremities and the ease with which he can breathe again. The tension he hadn't known he was holding in his muscles slowly drains out, and, for a moment, he thinks things might actually be okay. He takes a slow, fortifying breath before making his way out of the portal, staggering most of the way. He makes it to the mouth of the portal before his eyes land on Sam and Tucker, their reactions assuring him that things are not okay.

Tucker's eyes are wide and stunned, radiating confusion and worry. Sam is already halfway across the lab moving toward him, her hands shaking as she reaches out for him. "Danny," she says breathlessly, "your _hair_ —"

As Danny lifts a hand to his hair in confusion, his eyes catch on the gloves there, no longer the black they'd been when he'd first put them on, but a brilliant white. And, as he looks away from them and back toward Sam, he starts to notice the strange green tinge the lab has taken on. "Sam," he manages to choke out, "Tuck, what… what happened to me?"

Sam reaches out for him, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him across the room to a mirror. The reflection that stares back at him is almost terrifying in its accuracy despite the color flip that makes him certain he's looking at a photo negative rather than a mirror. But no, Sam looks normal enough, as does the lab. It's just his hair and his clothes and his eyes—god, his _eyes_ —that look so wrong.

Danny swallows thickly, but before he can say anything, the feel of Sam's hand on his arm disappears, and she makes a strange sound in the back of her throat that has him turning to look at her. Just in time too. The second his eyes land on her hand on his arm, he sees the way her fingers are phasing straight through his arm. Not sliding off, not moving away, _phasing through_. He looks up at Sam, and he can only imagine the picture he must make, his fear and shock vivid on his face. She swallows, and he can see the second she decides to try to be the adult in this situation. He wants to tell her to stop, that they can be scared together, but, frankly, he needs her to try.

"It's gonna be okay, Danny. We'll… we'll figure this out. Together."

Danny forces himself to nod. "Together. Right. Okay."

Sam nods. "We'll figure something out, figure out what happened, why it happened, what we need to do… we'll figure it out. I promise."

_Don't make promises you can't keep_ , he wants to say to her, but he holds his tongue, knowing she'll take it as a challenge.

Instead, he just nods, glancing over at Tucker, who's made his way over to them and is holding himself as tall as possible, nodding quickly in return. "Yeah, man," Tucker says, looking far less confident than he sounds. "We'll figure this out. Between my internet sleuthing skills and Sam's gothic knowledge and your parents' ghost research, we'll figure this out. Don't worry. Things are going to be okay."

Danny isn't quite sure how anything can ever be okay, but the thought that his friends have his back is enough to have him relaxing a little bit. "Okay," he says, hating the way his voice shakes. "Okay. Let's… let's figure this out."

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'ed. Part of my Round Eight H/C Bingo Card. [Come hang with me on tumblr!](http://hollyandvice.tumblr.com/)


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